In the event of smoke or toxic fume emergencies, existing smoke evacuation procedures are intended to aid in safeguarding flight crew vision and breathing. Oxygen masks provide respiratory protection and smoke goggles protection for the eyes. During serious emergencies, when dense vision-impairing smoke greatly exceeds the capacity of even the best smoke equipment or evacuation procedures, flight crews have been unable to see instruments or through the windshield and outside the aircraft. The reason for this is that flight crews have not been provided any emergency equipment assuring vitally important visibility. Incidents and accidents in service have demonstrated the inadequacy of currently provided equipment during severe conditions. Substantial and in some cases complete loss of internal and external visibility has occurred.
There is therefore a need for an apparatus to positively assure pilot visibility of vital instruments and flight path under the most severe flight deck smoke contamination.